Vote Now! Iconic Photos - 50 Years of Human Spaceflight

Astronaut Photos from Beyond Planet Earth

NASA

To mark the occasion of the 50th anniversary of human spaceflight, SPACE.com has selected just over 50 of the most memorable and iconic images of astronauts in space or taken by spaceflyers. Vote on your favorites!

Earthrise

NASA

The Apollo 8 astronauts broadcast never-before-seen views of the Earth and moon on December 24, 1968.

Stunning Space Photo Shows Shuttle in Silhouette

NASA

In a very unique setting over Earth's colorful horizon, the silhouette of the space shuttle Endeavour is featured in this image photographed by an Expedition 22 crewmember prior to STS-130 rendezvous and docking operations with the International Space Station. Docking occurred at 12:06 p.m. (EST) on Feb. 10, 2010.

First Test Launch of a Saturn V

NASA

The giant Saturn V rocket for the Apollo 4 mission at the Kennedy Space Center's launch complex 39A stands at the dawn of November 8, 1967, during the pre-launch alert.

Mercury Astronauts

NASA

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration came into being on October 1, 1958. NASA announced the seven Project Mercury Astronauts on April 9, 1959, only six months later. They are: (front, l to r) Walter H. Schirra, Jr., Donald K. Slayton, John H. Glenn, Jr., and Scott Carpenter; (back, l to r) Alan B. Shepard, Jr., Virgil I. Gus Grissom, and L. Gordon Cooper.

Alan Shepard Aboard Freedom 7

NASA

Alan Shepard flew in space on May 5, 1961, the first American to do so. He launched aboard a Mercury-Redstone 3 rocket named Freedom 7. The suborbital flight lasted 15 minutes.

First American Spacewalk

NASA

Ed White conducted the first American spacewalk on June 3, 1965.

President Kennedy at Cape Canaveral with NASA Officials

NASA

Dr. Wernher von Braun (center) describes the Saturn Launch System to President John F. Kennedy (right, pointing). NASA Deputy Administrator Robert Seamans stands to the left of von Braun.

Neil Armstrong in Lunar Module

NASA

Neil Armstrong sits in the lunar module after a historic moonwalk.

Buzz Aldrin, Second Man on the Moon

NASA

Astronaut Buzz Aldrin, lunar module pilot, walks on the surface of the Moon during the Apollo 11 mission, July 1969.

Yuri Gagarin, First Human in Space

NASA

On April 12, 1961, Russian cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin (left, on the way to the launch pad) made the first human spaceflight, a 108-minute orbital journey in his Vostok 1 spacecraft. Newspapers like The Huntsville Times (right) trumpeted Gagarin's accomplishment.